posted Mar 24th, 2024 - The NSL News coverage of the German Indoor Nationals 2024 began with the 8-way competition, which is unusual. Horizontal 4-way Formation Skydiving competition is the most popular event in the sport, and it regularly offers more content and exciting stories. Naturally, it has most often priority in NSL News event coverage.

However, the exciting 8-way duel between Operation Adler and the Airbus 8-way team, which has caught the attention of the NSL News several times, took the front page once again at the country's national indoor championship. It was not easy to put the 4-way battle between the two guest teams in Berlin, Qatar Lions and NOT NFTO, into the waiting line of interesting topics, which included several other outstanding situations.

The German national team in 4-way Open, Airbus Illertissen Oceanside, had to accept the winning position on the German championship leaderboard behind the two guest teams, despite the probably highest indoor performance level (25.4) in the Airbus history. Airbus finished two points below their new team record average (25.6) that they had posted at the Wind Games three weeks earlier. The competition draw in Spain included a very fast sequence in Round 2 (G,E,9,Q), while the German indoor nationals offered Round 5 (N,D,M,19) for the highest score. The other nine rounds in Spain added up to a 23.6 average, while Airbus performed at a 24.8 level in Berlin, disregarding the highest score of the meet.

Germany Indoor Nationals 2024			1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	Total	Avg
Rank	AAA Class		K,P,18,E	B,2,3	J,G,22,13	15,6,C	N,D,M,19	4,O,8	17,1,21	L,5,H,16	A,12,9	7,14,F	Q,20,10	Total	Avg
G	Qatar Lions	QA	27	24	26	24	33	24	24	33	26	22	23	263	26.3
G	NFTO	UK	32	26	21	25	31	20	24	29	27	28	22	263	26.3
1	Airbus Illertissen Oceanside	DE	28	23	21	25	31	22	23	29	25	27	-	254	25.4
2	Brusler Talentschmiede	DE	25	19	18	18	28	18	20	21	22	24	-	213	21.3
3	Meltemi Oceanside Illertissen	DE	23	19	18	19	24	18	19	22	22	25	-	209	20.9
G	Qatar Cheetahs	QA	21	16	18	18	25	15	16	19	20	23	-	191	19.1
G	Crazy Donut	PL	22	17	17	17	23	16	16	19	20	17	-	184	18.4
4	FfF Flystation Munich	DE	19	17	17	14	23	17	17	17	17	21	-	179	17.9
5	Dark NeVa	DE	19	16	17	16	20	14	15	18	17	17	-	169	16.9
6	Wintertunnel	DE	18	14	16	16	20	13	15	18	16	21	-	167	16.7
7	Paratus	DE	19	14	16	15	20	17	16	15	16	18	-	166	16.6
8	4XMPL	DE	15	13	15	11	18	12	13	12	13	14	-	136	13.6
9	GIGA Fehrbellin	DE	13	14	15	12	18	14	8	11	14	14	-	133	13.3

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Qatar Lions - NOT NFTO at the German Indoor Nationals 2024

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Neither with or without the fastest sequences Airbus could not keep up with Qatar Lions and NFTO at Wind Games and German Nationals, even though the German team was still much closer to the two opponents who both competed at the February event in Spain, as well. Airbus Illertissen Oceanside had finished 26 points behind NFTO and 16 points behind Qatar Lions at the Wind Games. Then they reduced the distance to nine points at the Hurricane Factory Berlin.

NFTO and Lions both had personnel changes between the two events, which may have made it easier for Airbus to move closer with a higher performance level. In fact, NFTO had only half of the team's Wind Games lineup in Berlin. Vana Parker and Sian Stokes teamed up with Ian Hodgkinson and Christian Schafer for a very different NFTO variation.

NFTO and Lions had to add an extra round to their agenda and break their tie after Round 10. Airbus had no serious German challenger and were done after Round 10, with a 41-point distance to the team in 2nd place on the German leaderboard. Brusler Talentschmiede was the next reunion of the former national team in 4-way Open, Paratec-Saar. The new variation of the reunion lineup featured former Airbus member Goran Meyer in Markus Bastuck's slot. Meltemi Oceanside Illertissen, Germany's national team in 4-way Women, finished in 3rd place.

Wind Games 2024			1		2		3		4		5		6		7		8		9		10		Total	Avg
Rank	4-way AAA		16,4,17		G,E,9,Q		21,K,D,13		A,B,15,20		3,5,F		J,C,P,19		1,8,H		18,7,L		2,10,6		O,22,14		Total	Avg
1	Aethers Medjay	FR	30		53		32		34		38		43	-1	26	-2	32	-1	25		25	-2	338	33.8
2	Qatar Tigers	QA	26		43	-2	26	-3	31		35	-1	38	-1	27	-1	29		23		23		301	30.1
3	NFTO	UK	25		42	-2	27		27		28	-2	39		26		27		20	-1	21	-1	282	28.2
4	ISR Fireflash	BE	22	-1	43	-1	25		28		33		40		21	-2	23	-3	20	-1	22		277	27.7
5	Qatar Lions	QA	23	-1	41	-2	25	-2	27	-1	32		34		23		25		20	-1	22		272	27.2
6	Papea 1	ES	23	-1	33	-3	26		25	-2	28	-2	38		25	-1	26		21		21	-1	266	26.6
7	Nephtys	FR	21	-1	42	-2	25	-1	24	-3	30		35	-2	21	-2	25	-1	21		21		265	26.5
7	Fly X	IT	22	-1	35	-4	26	-1	26		31		32	-2	26		28		19	-1	20	-2	265	26.5
9	FCUK Weembi	UK	22	-1	43		29		25	-2	25	-3	33	-1	20	-1	23	-3	23		20	-1	263	26.3
10	Chimera	UK	21		42	-1	25		29		27	-2	33	-1	22		25		20		18	-2	262	26.2
11	Airbus Illertissen Oceanside	DE	21		36	-3	23		26	-1	29		35		23		25		19		19		256	25.6
12	Autrement Nice	FR	22		35	-3	25		25		28		34		21		24		20		18	-1	252	25.2
13	Once Pakoi	FR	18	-1	33		23		24		26		29	-1	23		24		19		19		238	23.8
14	Qatar Cheetahs	QA	21		37	-1	19		24	-2	24	-4	32		19	-2	22		17		19	-2	234	23.4
15	Windabona Alakran	ES	21		28	-6	24		20	-3	24	-1	31		23		23	-1	15	-3	16	-3	225	22.5
16	Viserion	UK	17	-2	35		22		21	-1	24	-2	28	-2	19		20		17		15	-2	218	21.8
17	HSV Red Bull AerodynamiX	AT	17	-2	34	-4	21	-2	17	-5	18	-5	29		21		17	-4	18		18	-2	210	21.0
18	Papea 2	ES	17	-2	28		21		21		22		28		16		20		17		16	-3	206	20.6
18	Airdrops	CH	16	-2	32	-1	21		19	-2	26		23	-3	16	-2	20		16		17		206	20.6
20	Windabona Angels	ES	17	-1	28		19	-2	18	-3	22	-1	27		20		20	-1	17		16	-1	204	20.4
21	HiFly Madrid Kalash	ES	17	-3	29	-5	20	-3	16	-6	24	-1	25	-5	19	-1	19	-2	14	-3	12	-6	195	19.5
22	Magyx	ES	12		20		13	-2	11	-1	13		16		13		14		10	-1	12		134	13.4
23	Aerium	ZA	13		18	-3	13	-1	9	-5	16		15	-1	12	-1	12	-1	10	-1	11	-1	129	12.9
24	Falling Stones	ES	7	-2	12	-4	11		8	-3	8	-1	14		15		11		9	-2	10		105	10.5

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Airbus Illertissen Oceanside - Brusler Talentschmiede - Meltemi Oceanside Illertissen at the German Indoor Nationals 2024

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The German 4-way leaderboard was connected to the 8-way leaderboard in a very special way, as well. Seven members of the reigning German 8-way champions, Operation Adler, also competed in 4-way with four different teams.

Three Airbus 4-way members (Thomas Mack, Felix Pfeiffer, Alexander Prendinger) have been in Operation Adler's 8-way lineup from the beginning and won two German indoor gold medals. Meltemi's Linda Köb has also been doing double duties in 4-way and 8-way since Operation Adler was formed.

The reunion of Brusler Talentschmiede brought Operation Adler members Goran Meyer, Dieter Schwarz and Joern Thiele together in 4-way, and Christian Schafer outscored all German 4-way teams and competitors as a temporary NOT NFTO member. Only Markus Bastuck was not present for Operation Adler, and former Airbus 4-way and 8-way member Olaf Biedermann replaced him in Berlin. Operation Adler's 8-way performance surely did not suffer from this personnel change. 8-way opponent Airbus did not engage too much in the 4-way competition and saved their energy for the ten 8-way rounds. FlyStation Munich's Fly for Fun lineup included three 8-way members (Carl Enders, Andreas Hohne, Thomas Spielvogel), and former Chicas/Piteraq member Sylvia Maier completed the lineup.

Germany Indoor Nationals 2024			1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	Total	Avg
Rank	AA Class		D,18,G	15,C,Q	4,14	19,P,B	K,H,E,22	20,7	8,1	L,J,F,2	13,6	M,A,21	Total	Avg
1	Vollgas	DE	14	16	13	17	18	15	12	20	17	23	165	16.5
2	Quo Volatis	DE	14	15	13	17	17	13	15	20	13	20	157	15.7
3	Futura 6.9 Paranodon	DE	13	16	13	17	16	14	13	19	15	16	152	15.2
4	GAGS Paranodon Futura Illertissen	DE	12	13	13	16	14	13	11	18	11	20	141	14.1
5	TeamPommes	DE	11	13	12	14	13	12	13	16	13	18	135	13.5
6	La R Force	FR	11	12	11	17	14	13	9	16	13	18	134	13.4
Rank	A Class		6,B	J,K,8	E,Q,L	7,2	M,G,A	F,H,N	21,D	4,C	9,O	P,19	Total	Avg
1	Speed Devils	DE	15	15	21	12	26	24	13	13	23	15	177	17.7
2	Moka Efti	DE	15	13	15	14	18	23	14	12	19	9	152	15.2
3	Paranodon Futura 5	DE	13	12	14	11	17	20	11	12	18	11	139	13.9
4	GoCry	DE	8	11	14	10	15	13	10	8	14	11	114	11.4
5	Airtron	DE	10	6	10	10	13	17	8	8	12	7	101	10.1
Rank	Rookie		M,E,N	Q,H,K	B,A,F	D,G,J	P,C,O	L,P,N	O,D,K	G,F,E	L,H,J	B,M,Q	Total	Avg
1	TEAM	DE	16	12	22	12	16	13	11	19	13	21	155	15.5
2	Paranodon Futura 9	DE	11	9	19	13	12	9	11	12	12	15	123	12.3
3	Four Elements	DE	14	9	15	10	12	8	12	11	11	17	119	11.9